Report: Boise State in talks to stay in Mountain West

Updated 7:59 am, Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Wire reports

Boise State is in talks with the Mountain West Conference about the Broncos staying in the conference instead of leaving for the Big East in 2013, according to an ESPN report.

The Mountain West announced on Friday it had restructured its current TV media rights deal with CBS. The restructured deal gives the Mountain West the right to sell packages of games to two other networks, which could mean millions more for current Mountain West programs.

If Boise State does decide to return to the Mountain West, San Diego State -- also ticketed to join the Big East in 2013 -- could join the Broncos as the league's 12th member. The Mountain West intentionally stopped at 10 programs, leaving the door open for both the Broncos and Aztecs to return to the conference. The conference could be able to split into two divisions and host a conference championship game.

The Big East, according to CBS Sports, has talked with Fresno State and UNLV about joining the conference for football only. The league is losing seven basketball-centric schools, but their exit won't become final until a gaggle of lawyers agree on the major talking points -- when the new conference can begin play, participating schools, the name of the league, sites for the conference tournament, terms of the television contract and so on.

According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, no exit fee is expected for the seven, which includes Marquette, Georgetown, Villanova, St. John's, Seton Hall, DePaul and Providence. Butler, Xavier, Creighton, Dayton, Virginia Commonwealth and Gonzaga have been mentioned as possible candidates to make it a 10- or 12-team basketball conference.